Unexpected Encounters
by Sany13
Summary: An unexpected gate malfunction sends Daniel to an unknown planet, where he meets a woman in need of help and who will forever change his life.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay, so I finally get back to writing and I've completely switch genres, figures lol. Just a quick little warning that this one is rated M for the violence involved. Hope you enjoy. Thanks puppet and luli for going over it for me!

Disclaimer: Not mine I'm just playing around with the characters for fun :)

* * *

Chapter 1

She crashed into the rough undergrowth of the forest for what seemed liked the hundredth time before staggering to her feet yet again; stumbling forward, she reached out for the nearby trees to keep from falling. She knew there was a good chance that the next time she fell she might have neither the energy, nor the strength to get back up. It was a miracle she had gotten as far as she had, given the extent of her injuries and the amount of blood she had lost. She was running on pure fear and adrenaline, one thought repeating over and over in her mind, she had to get off this planet and away from those people. They were without a doubt looking for her by now; it wouldn't have taken them long to notice that their 'prize' had escaped her chains. If she could just make it to the gate, that's all she needed, just make it to the Gate then she would be free from all the torture and pain that she'd unexpectedly walked into when she had arrived on the planet…

…_As she stepped out of the chap'pai, she was momentarily stunned; she had expected to see the small open field she always saw upon arriving on the small planet. Instead, what had actually greeted her was a group of villagers – a sea of them stood as far as the eye could see. Normally, the sight wouldn't have been a cause for concern; the staffs, pitchforks, shovels, and various other weapons they carried, however, were. Taking quick stock of the group before her, she immediately identified the burly man at the front of the group as their leader. Slowly she made her way down the stone steps that led away from the gate; the soft clicking of her heels, as they met the stone, the only audible sound in the space around her. All sound completely died away as she came to a stop a few feet in front of the leader._

_Before she even had the chance to ask him what the purpose of this 'little' gathering was, she felt a sharp pain spread through the right side of her face, a small rock had unexpectedly struck her, and it was immediately followed by the feeling of something warm trickling down her cheek. Dazed she brought a shaky hand up to just above her eye; wincing from the sting, she pulled her hand back to stare at the sticky red liquid smeared across her fingers. She looked up just in time to see a burly fist before it connected with her jaw, the impact ripping open her bottom lip. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth, as the warm liquid gushed in._

_Emboldened by her lack of retaliation thus far, a wiry light haired man pulled her around striking her once again. Unlike the first hit, this one was delivered in the form of a fist to her abdomen causing her to double over, as the air rushed out of her lungs in a cough blood from her split lip spewed from her mouth and onto the sleeve of his shirt as he held her. _

_A hand wrapped painfully tight in her hair, pulled her upright, as something that definitely wasn't a fist hit her across her upper back. She screamed as pain shot up through her spine; the world around her became nothing but a blur as she staggered forward and into the arms of yet another villager. She gasped for air as she was shoved away from the only thing that was supporting her at that moment. She struggled to keep from falling, as the noise around her increased. If the angry voices around her were any indication of things to come, she knew that once she was on the ground she would lose any chance to fight back._

_At the sound of "get her!" she truly began to panic. This was not happening. This couldn't be happening. She was not going to die at the hands of these… these people. Out of sheer desperation, and a need to survive, she lunged towards the man that had just shoved her back into the vengeful mob. A feral growl rumbled up from deep within her throat. Caught off guard, from both the move and the sound, the man stared at her with wide eyes, giving her enough time to wrap her hands around his thick neck. Squeezing as hard as she could, she watched the stunned disbelief fill his eyes - just as it had hers moments before. At the feel of him clawing at her, fingers raking furrows into her arms, she squeezed harder, the twinge of pain feeding her blood lust. _

_Consumed with such a vengeful lust, she barely noticed the outraged shouts of the men and women behind her, or the feel of their hands pulling at her. Her hands merely kept squeezing tighter and tighter. She watched as his eyes rolled back into his head, while several more hands grabbed her, pulling desperately at her hands as they tried to free their comrade before it was too late._

_She screamed out in agony when her left arm was wrenched out of its socket; instead of giving into the intense pain, however, she used the momentum they had unwittingly provided to strike out once more. She felt a bone crushing weight as her fist connected solidly with a strong jaw. The sight of her killing one of their own, with her bare hands, and then knocking another to the ground with a single blow, sent them into an even greater rage._

"_Get her…"_

"_Kill her before…"_

"_Don't let her escape!"_

_They began to close in around her, blocking off any chance she had at making a run for it. Frantically looking around she searched for any possible way out. Seeing no other option, she resigned herself to the fact that she'd have to fight her way out of this one, if she intended to get out in one piece. At the sight of a well muscled man with dark eyes rushing at her, she stepped aside, as quickly as possible, aiming a kick to the back of his head as he passed by, sending him to the ground with a grunt._

_They closed in faster and in more numbers, after witnessing yet another one of their numbers go down. She punched wildly with her one good arm, getting in a kick here and there when she could. As the attack continued she tried desperately to avoid as many of the punches and swinging weapons as she could, but with their massive numbers it was impossible. As the fight wore on, blood oozed freely from the cut above her eye making it harder and harder for her to see. Her left arm dangled uselessly, the slightest touch to it sending a fresh shockwave of pain through her. Still, even with all the injuries she had accumulated, she had, somehow managed to stay on her feet._

_Then, precisely as she stepped back to avoid the shovel that was aimed at her head, she made a grave mistake, she tripped. The man she had choked to death early on in her struggle for survival lay behind her, stepping back onto his soft flesh she lost all traction and fell backwards. Seeing their best opportunity yet, the group advanced as one…_

"_Mommy? Is _it_ dead, mommy?" a small inquisitive voice asked, pulling her out of her stupor sometime later._

"_No sweetie, _it's_ not dead," a soft, feminine voice answered. "At least not yet," she added, voice barely more than a whisper._

It?_ Even in her semi-unconscious state, she knew that was terribly wrong. She was not an _it_, she had never been an _it_, she would never be an _it_, and it was time to show these villagers exactly who _she _was!_

_Though the moment she attempted to pull herself upright, a pained moan escaped her dry, battered lips, as pain from every inch of her body assaulted her._

"_Awake are you?" a gruff, masculine voice asked. "Have to admit, I'd thought you'd be dead by now," he added, spitting at the ground near her feet._

_She opened her eyes to the tiniest of slits, as they were so swollen from her earlier beating, and took in her blurry surroundings. She was no longer in the field she had last remembered being in; she was now chained to a metal ring embedded in a stone pillar in the center of a small village. The woman and child she had heard minutes before were no longer to be seen, and in their place stood a brawny, dark haired man about a foot away from her, his lips curled up revealing brown stained teeth, with more than a few missing, as he smirked at her. Briefly forgetting that she was chained up, she moved to lunge at him, a scream ripped up from deep in her throat, as she was painfully reminded of the fact that she was a prisoner._

_His sardonic laugh cut through her as surely as a sharp blade would. "No use in trying to escape, those chains won't break for anyone. Not even _you_! And by sundown tomorrow the only thing that will be left of you will be your rotting corpse," he added, his voice dripping with venom. _

_She opened her mouth to let loose some of the fury she felt towards him and his people, but all that came out was a dry, raspy cough, the first setting off a cascade of others that made her throat feel as if it were on fire. _

"_What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" he laughed heartlessly. "Or maybe it's that you're thirsty," he added taking a long pull from his wine skin, making sure to sigh heavily when done. She glared at him, well glared as much as her bruised and swollen eyelids would allow, hoping that he choked on his drink. With one last taunting swallow, he turned and walked away from her, leaving her to the mercy of the hot sun and the other villagers. _

_She spent the rest of the day, when she wasn't unconscious, frantically trying to come up with some sort of an escape plan. She had until sundown the next day to get out of there; she'd already decided that if she was going to have any chance at all it would have to be that night while everyone was asleep or otherwise occupied. Her main problem was the chains. She spent a considerable amount of time studying those iron links, thinking of ways to break them, but it was all in vain. It was like the repulsive pig had said; she could not break those iron links, especially given how weak her body was._

_As darkness fell, she still hadn't made any progress with her escape plan, the only thing she had managed to accomplish was to stay awake for longer than thirty minutes at a time. Eventually, she began to notice the town's folk move towards one of the large taverns, until the only things left in the streets was her and a stray animal or two. Even so, they didn't forget to keep watch on her, every twenty or so minutes, one of her captors would step out of the tavern, just to insure she was still there and hadn't escaped. _

_Staring down at her chained wrists, she once again tried to wriggle one of her hands free from its shackle, once again to be stopped by the joint of her thumb. If only that joint wasn't there she'd be able to slip her hand out, pull the chain and shackle through the iron loop holding her and make a run for her freedom. Shortly after one of her guards had checked on her, she'd made the conscious, yet desperate, decision to break the thumb on her left hand to gain her freedom, or at least a chance at it. _

_Taking a deep breath, she mentally began to prepare herself for what she would do after the next guard checked on her. As soon as he poked his head back into the tavern, she jumped into action, knowing how excruciating the pain would be, she gathered up the end of her skirt, awkwardly stuffing as much of the material as she could in her mouth to muffle her inevitable scream. Taking one more deep breath she squeezed down with every ounce of strength she had. She heard a sickening crack; it was quickly followed by a searing pain that caused her vision to blur momentarily._

_Breathing rapidly, tears streaming down her cheeks, she slid the shackle over her hand, wincing as the iron touched her thumb, then began to work the chain and shackle through the loop embedded in the stone pillar, freeing herself from imprisonment. She was about to attempt getting to her feet and running for the line of the trees in front of her, when she suddenly froze. She could hear raucous laughter from the tavern getting louder than before; quickly, she hid from view any indication that she was no longer chained. She quietly waited for the sounds to diminish, signalling that the man that had come to check on her had gone back inside, before chancing a glance towards the door to reassure herself that he was in fact gone. Seeing no one, she gathered the end of the chain in her hand, scrambled to her feet making a run for the forest…_

…She burst out of the trees; stumbling and clutching her left arm to her, she finally saw what she had so desperately wanted to see. Hurriedly she made her way towards the dialling device, listening intently for any sign that her captors were in pursuit. She was just about ready to pass out from the ordeal she had been through, from the moment she had arrived on the planet her life had been turned into a living hell. She had been beaten, chained up with no food or water, and treated like the worse sort of criminal, there was no way she was going to go back there alive, it was either freedom or death.

Tripping over a small rock, she was jarred from her thoughts when she hit the ground hard, knocking out what little air she had managed to pull into her lungs. She lay there a moment, desperately gasping the cool night air into her burning lungs, wearily letting her head drop to the side. She could see she only had a few more feet to go and then she would be free. She could go to some other planet where these people wouldn't be able to find her.

She scrambled to her knees, crawling clumsily towards the dialling device, adding more cuts and bruises to her already vast collection. Reaching the device she awkwardly pulled herself up with one arm, and collapsed back to the ground despairingly after she saw what had been done to it. All hopes she had of escaping through the chap'pai lost. Listlessly she let herself fall sideways, darkness slowly enveloping her before she hit the ground.

* * *

Squinting down at the carved markings, Daniel swept away the last bit of dust from the stone tablet with a tiny brush. Delicately he ran his fingers over the text, as if trying to read it through touch alone. A week ago SG-3 had called in to report to Hammond about a machine they had found on the planet they were doing recon on, it was covered in Ancient writing. They thought that it might be something that could help them in their fight against Anubis; Daniel had been called in to take a look. He had been on the planet since then, trying to make out what the markings on the machine said. Then he had found the tablet, what he thought might be the key to figuring out just exactly what the machine did and how to work it.

He knew that the writing on the tablet was Ancient, but the dialect was one he hadn't encountered before. If he was going to translate this correctly he was going to need his books. Looking up he saw that Major Sampson was leaning against one of the stone pillars that supported what was left of the ceiling. He walked over to the man to let him know what he had found and planned on doing next.

"Dr. Jackson," the major said, straightening as Daniel approached him. "Any luck with the machine?"

"Unfortunately not as much as I had hoped, but I did find a tablet that may help me decipher some of the more obscure text written on the machine. It's fascinating really, it's written in a dialect that I have never…"

"Ah, that's okay doctor. I rarely know what you're saying, so I doubt I'll understand what you find so fascinating about it," Sampson said effectively stopping Daniel's explanation.

"Yes, well I just wanted to tell you I'm heading back to the SGC. I need to get a few reference texts if I'm going to figure out exactly what the tablet says and how it relates to the machine. I should be back in a couple of hours," he said making his way towards the DHD to dial earth.

"I'll get Murphy and Crewe to go with you," Sampson said, motioning to the two officers to follow Daniel.

"Major, I hardly think that I'm going to get into trouble just going back to earth. Besides, I won't be long," Daniel argued, pressing his hand down on the center button, initiating the wormhole. Daniel walked up to the familiar blue pool, giving the major a reassuring smile before stepping through.

A few seconds later he stumbled out of the gate, tripped over his feet, and fell to the ground_. Wait, ground?_

"Aw, c'mon you've got to be kidding me!" he exasperated, quickly getting to his feet to look around.

This definitely was not the SGC, the darkness and the fact that he was outside and not in an underground facility attested to that. The question however, was how did he manage to get here when he had dialled earth and whether or not he'd be able to get home. Maybe if he looked around a bit more, he'd get lucky and would actually know where he was; then he'd be able to gate home. The only thing he could see in the darkness was murky shapes, and the outline of a forest on either side of him, not anything that set it apart from the hundreds of worlds he had been to before.

Seeing a familiar shape twenty or so feet off to his left, he walked over to it, all the while muttering about his rotten luck. He would not be able to dial home without knowing the point of origin, but he could at least check it out and make sure it actually worked. The closer he got to the machine he could make out more of the details, his eyes having accustomed themselves to the lack of light. Making out a lumpy shape, that didn't belong, at the base of the DHD, he rushed over to it, there lying on the ground in front of the dialling device was a woman, who was barely breathing.

* * *

_Reviews are appreciated._


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** I know you all probably thought I had died or something, but I'm still around. It's just been an insane year, with a lot to deal with. Hopefully things have changed now. I've had this written for a while but haven't posted it since I was waiting to have most of the story done so I could update once a week. With that said I hope you enjoy it.

Sany

Chapter 2

Crouching down next to the battered woman, Daniel tentatively reached a hand out, touching the side of her neck, feeling for a pulse. At her pained moan he quickly pulled back his hand, his fingers sticky with her blood.

"What in the world happened to you?" he whispered softly, knowing she couldn't actually answer him, she probably couldn't even hear him.

Lost in thoughts about who could have possibly beaten this poor defenseless woman to near death, he almost didn't hear the angry shouts coming from the wooded area over his shoulder. Without knowing the planet's gate symbol there was no way he could possibly get them out of there before the physical bodies of those voices reached them. Glancing at the DHD a little forlornly he realized that even if he had known what point of origin to use he wouldn't be able to use it anyway. The DHD was broken; the center of the device smashed in rendering it useless. With no other choice left to him, he would have to carry the woman into the dark forest in the hopes of finding some sort of shelter for them.

Carefully wrapping the chain dangling from her wrist around his own, to alleviate some of the pressure, Daniel shifted the woman before him to better lift her into his arms that would cause her the least amount of pain. He whispered softly into her ear before he stood up. He winced at the sound of her pained gasps despite his careful movements. Knowing how much this had to be hurting her but also knowing that much worse would be done to her if he just left her on her own, he jogged into the trees. The shouts of the angry people behind him urging him to jog faster than he normally would in the given situation.

* * * * *

She let out a pained moan at the feel of pressure against her neck. Even after the object had been removed the throbbing pain had remained. _This is it, _she thought. After all these years she was finally going to die, and in a manner she had never expected. A group of common villagers had done what no other had managed to do, not even the almighty 'gods', and now they were back to finish the job. She only wished she were able to find some sort of inner strength to command her broken body to give them a real fight. One they wouldn't soon forget.

At the feel of a hand against her shoulder she flinched unintentionally. The hand slid under her shoulders gently, but hurriedly, pulling her upright causing her to gasp painfully. She moaned again when she felt another arm slide under her knees.

She heard a gentle voice whisper softly in her ear, "I'm so sorry, but I have to get you out of here." Then all she could feel was searing pain. She nearly screamed as her broken body was lifted by strong arms. She heard him whisper something again, but whatever he had said was lost in her attempts not to scream out in agony.

With every step he took she whimpered until a time came where she just couldn't handle it anymore, even she had a breaking point, the world went black once again. Though unlike the last time, where she felt terrified and sure of a certain death, this time she felt… safe, despite the torture her body was going through.

* * * * *

Daniel could feel his gut twist and his heart contract at the tortured sounds coming from the woman in his arms. He knew what he was doing was for her benefit, considering that whoever was after her wouldn't have any qualms about killing her if her current state were any indication, but he hated having to cause her more hurt.

He mentally shook himself, he had to stop dwelling on what had happened to her and had to focus on finding them a place to hide, and soon! The voices behind him weren't fading, if anything they sounded closer, and even more pissed off.

Eyes glancing about him in a dozen different directions while he ran, Daniel almost missed the tiny entrance to a cave that could provide them temporary shelter. Hurrying to the entrance Daniel eased the woman to the forest floor. There was no way he'd be able to walk in with her in his arms. With the sounds of the mob getting closer he had no other option than to crawl in backwards and drag her after him, and hope for the best.

Getting them situated for their trek into the cave, Daniel scooted himself back. Reaching forward he placed his arms under hers and pulled her back as gently as he could. He only hoped he wasn't doing more damage to her already broken body.

Once they was far enough in the cave that he was sure they were safe from the mob outside, Daniel took off his vest. Removing the flashlight and the thermal emergency blanket that was kept in the pockets he rolled up the vest and placed it under her head. Opening the blanket he covered her as much as he could in the cramped space. He turned on the flashlight to get a better look at where exactly they were.

They were still in the narrow tunnel, even if it had opened up some. Shining the light down on the woman he had been carrying for what seemed like an eternity, Daniel got the first real look at her since finding her. Her hair was matted with dried blood, twigs and dirt from the forest floor clung to her hair. Her face was swollen with dark bruises forming just about everywhere. Her lip was split open with a trail of dry blood running down her delicate chin. Gashes in her skin oozed more blood as they were reopened by his efforts to save her, and probably from her own attempts at escape.

From there his eyes moved to her left arm. He could clearly see that it had been pulled from its socket, he'd have to try and fix that for her once they were more securely hid. His eyes continued to follow the lines of her body, taking in every injury. Daniel was completely amazed at how she had managed to endure everything that had been done to her. He couldn't help but wonder just how desperate she had been considering she had broken her own thumb to risk a chance at freedom. He could tell she had done it herself by the way it had been broken so strategically, so her hand would slip through the cuff that had once encircled her slender wrist. Other than that one self inflected injury, everything else she had to have experienced to acquire such injuries had to have been terrifying.

Daniel had a great amount of respect and admiration for the woman before him. To have gone through all that she had, and still managed to escape even though it had to have been excruciating for her just to breathe, meant she was one amazingly strong woman.

He started to feel uncomfortable staring at her like he was so he glanced around the tunnel they were in once again. Daniel began to wonder if he could leave her alone long enough to go farther into the tunnel in the hopes of finding a better place for her to rest. Deciding to take a chance he made sure that she was sufficiently covered with the blanket before crawling farther into the cave, alone.

He crawled for what seemed like hours, when in actual fact it had only been thirty minutes, before he came to a large cavern. Pulling himself out of the tunnel, Daniel stretched to his full height for the first time since they had entered the cave. Slowly he moved the beam of light from his flashlight around the room. The chamber was large, more then enough space to accommodate the two of them, and to make things better there was a small pool of water in one of the corners. It was the perfect place for them to hide until she was well enough for them to plan an escape, or until he somehow got in contact with the SGC. However with the DHD smashed it looked more like the first option would be the most likely scenario.

He sighed heavily and stretched one last time before crawling back into the tunnel.

* * * * *

Her eyelids fluttered half a dozen times before opening fully, well as full as they could in her current condition. She moaned as the dull ache that had initially woken her turned into searing pain at every move she made. Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, she fought against the pain she was feeling and forced herself to lie as still as possible she pulled in a few shallow breaths. Never before could she remember being in so much pain, that or she just couldn't remember the last time.

She opened her eyes once again, her head felt cloudy, almost as if she were coming out of a long sleep, or some drug induced hallucination. Looking around as much as she possibly could without hurting herself, she began to try and form some memory of where exactly she was. The dim light however only allowed her to see that she was in a cavern of some kind. Having no memory of how she got there, she began to question if any of it was actually real. Was she dreaming? Was this all just some fantasy she had made up out of sheer desperation?

It had to be real. She wouldn't be in this much pain if it weren't, right? But how did she get in the cave? And where exactly was she? Then again maybe the better question would be what exactly had happened to her? Never before had she been so confused about what was going on. She just wanted someone, anyone, to come in and tell her what had happened, tell her that everything was going to be okay. Tell her that nothing bad would ever happen to her again. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, not only from the pain but from the sheer frustration of not knowing how she had ended up beaten and hiding in a cave.

Almost as if her thoughts had summoned it, she heard a noise coming from somewhere inside the cavern. Suddenly fear took hold of her at the thought of whom or what could be making the noise, for all she knew it could be whatever had attacked her returning to finish what it had started. Quickly she closed her eyes and pretended to be sleeping, hoping that whoever or whatever it was would leave her alone if they thought she was still unconscious. She heard what sounded like scraping of boots against hard rock, getting closer and closer to her with every passing second. She had to hold back a whimper that was threatening to crawl out of her throat the closer the sound got.

Her breath hitched when she felt a strong hand brush against the side of her face. What was he doing? She felt him gently move her head to the side before feeling a cool damp cloth as it made contact with her brow. She unintentionally flinched when she felt him move the rag over her face carefully.

"I'm sorry I know this must hurt you, but I have to wash off the blood so I can see how badly you're hurt," she heard a masculine, yet gentle, voice softly say. She couldn't believe it. This, this man, she didn't even know, was taking care of her as if she actually mattered, as if she weren't just some silly little village girl that had gotten herself into more trouble than she could handle.

She could feel him slowly work around her, cleaning her up, inspecting her wounds and bandaging them with such a tender hand she thought once again that she had to be dreaming. Whimpering when his hand came in contact with left shoulder, she pulled away from him slightly. However it wasn't much longer before she felt a blanket settle over her body. She didn't know who this man showing her such kindness was, or how she would ever begin to repay him for what he was doing for her but she was deeply grateful for what he was doing.

As warmth settled over her, she felt herself getting sleepier. She wasn't sure if it was because she felt so safe that she was falling back to sleep, or if it was because she was in so much pain that her body had begun to demand more rest. Either way the last thing she remembered before succumbing to sleep once again, was hearing his soothing voice telling her that everything was going to be okay.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Well how about that, it didn't take me a year to update this time. I'm making progress :D

Chapter 3

When she woke again she had more control over her body. Opening her eyes slowly she surveyed the room, well cave. Her captor was squatted in front of her, his back to her while he tended the fire he had built while she had slept. She briefly considered hitting him over the head and making a run for it, however the second she moved a sharp jolt of pain shot through her ribs reminding her that she wasn't quite ready for a daring escape yet. Her pained groan caused him to turn away from the fire quickly and back towards her.

Rushing over to her he placed a gentle hand on her uninjured shoulder, pushing her back so she wouldn't move.

"Hey just relax. I'm not going to hurt you," his voice was soft and gentle, matching both his touch and the look in his eyes. Such tenderness coming from a stranger confused her. _Why would someone she didn't even know care about her _she questioned.

"You've taken quite a beating, anyone else might not have been so fortunate, so I really wouldn't risk moving just yet if I were you. Your body needs some time to heal. Do you remember what happened to you?" he asked.

At his words it was almost as if she began to live the event over. Angry faces flashed before her eyes. The feeling of hands striking her over and over, the rocks they pelted at her ripping open her flesh, her arm making that sickening pop as one of them yanked her by the arm. These were just a few of the things she could remember from what had happened earlier that day, when she came through the gate, or whenever it was that it had happened. For all she knew her near death experience could have actually happened a week or more ago.

Carefully she nodded her head up and down. She was still wary of what he might say or do to her if he didn't like her answers or worse if he found out just who she was. After all he had said 'anyone else', did that mean he already knew who she was.

"What about your name? Can you tell me what your name is?" he asked again.

She pondered that question for a moment; if he already knew who she was he wouldn't have asked her that would he? She contemplated just how risky it would be to tell him her actual name, before finally deciding it would be better to maintain some small amount of anonymity. She settled on the third name that had popped into her head, the first two being much too perilous to use.

"Aamina," she rasped out. No one would be able to connect that name to her, not now anyway.

Hearing the roughness of her voice he reached for the vest he had near by. Riffling through one of the oversized pockets he pulled out a canteen of water. Unscrewing the cap he slowly brought it to her lips.

"Take small sips. Too much too fast and you'll make yourself sick," he warned as she looked up into his eyes. Once she had finished he set the canteen back down next to his vest, all the while with her watching him curiously.

"Well Aamina, it's nice to meet you, though I wish it could have been under much better circumstances. I'm Daniel," he smiled down at her reassuringly.

Looking up a little unsure of whether or not she could trust this 'Daniel', she tried to give him a smile in return, to give herself more time to better judge her exact position with this man, this _Daniel_. However, her attempted smile turned into more of a pained grimace as the gesture pulled at her tender bruised flesh, and split lip.

Catching her wince Daniel moved towards her.

"Hey, be careful," he said reaching once again for his vest. "You need to save your strength so you can heal. Do not try to move more than you have to, or you'll just end up hurting yourself worse."

She watched him go through the vest once again. He took out two small white pills, then held them to her lips. The water canteen was in his other hand ready for her to wash the pills down with. When she kept her mouth firmly closed he added, "They'll help you with the pain you're feeling." When she still wouldn't open her mouth he let out a sigh.

"I promise you I'm not trying to hurt you. If I had wanted to do that I would have left you back in that field for those people to find." Immediately after seeing the look in her eyes he regretted his words.

She visibly stiffened when he had mentioned the mob that had tried to kill her. She looked at him defiantly when he had talked about leaving her behind. She might not be much right now but she would still fight her damnedest if she had to.

"I swear that I am just trying to help you," he insisted. "But if you really don't want to take the pills I won't force you to take them."

She looked up into his soft eyes and saw something she almost couldn't remember ever seeing before. A look that had never been aimed in her direction before anyway, he was genuinely concerned for her well being. Slowly she parted her lips to take the offered pills, sipping water from the canteen he immediately pressed to her lips.

He pulled the canteen away, waiting for any indication that she needed more. When she slightly shook her head no, he once again placed it back into one of the many pockets on his vest. If anything he was organized.

She watched him warily. She wasn't sure if his concern was just a ruse for her to let down her guard or if in fact he actually cared about what had happened to her. Her watchful eyes followed his every movement, studied his graceful movements in every little thing he did. There was something about this man that had her captivated, and it puzzled her as to why. She had never let any man intrigue her this much before.

Not once in her long life could she ever recall a man doing anything for her without her manipulating him in some way or form. To her this was an absolute mystery, something to be picked apart and studied later when she was away from him and couldn't be influenced by his closeness.

When he turned back to her he looked a little unsure of himself, almost as if he wanted to ask or tell her something but wasn't sure how she would take it. Her suspicions flared anew when he started moving towards her with a look of dread on his face. She unconsciously shifted away from him -not too far away though, her injuries wouldn't allow that- once he knelt down to her level again.

"Your left shoulder has been dislocated, and your thumb has been badly broken. I can't do much about the thumb with the little I have with me, but I was thinking I should try and set your arm back into place," he explained, glancing at said shoulder.

She looked confused at his explanation. Why would he be so worried about her arm being dislocated? She could easily get it looked at later when she was better able to get around. After all she had no plans on staying in _this_ cave any longer than she had to, a few days at most sooner if she could manage it.

His voice cut off any of her further thoughts. "It's going to be painful, but I think it would be better to get it seen to as soon as possible, if it's left for too long it may cause permanent damage."

She scrutinized his earnest face. Why did he look so eager to help her? He should be leaving her there to fend for herself, that's what most in his position would do. They would take one look at what had happened to her, take whatever they could steal and leave her for dead. So why would this man who meant nothing to her, a man whom she had done no favours for, care about her well being? It made absolutely no sense.

"Aamina?" he asked, breaking her internal debate. "If you don't want me to set your arm I won't, but I still feel that it would be better if we took care of this now instead of waiting." He paused for a moment before continuing, "I can wait until the pain medication takes affect. It will still be bad but at least it will take some of the edge off."

She stared at him for a little while longer before she actually answered him, and when she did it was only with two words.

"Do it."

The moment she had given him her consent_ Daniel_ had set about making her comfortable. It seemed that the last thing he wanted was to make her feel more uncomfortable then she already was. _Now there's a switch. Someone worried about my comfort without being threatened._

He carefully adjusted her position so that she was laying flat on her back, it was better for her to lie down rather than sit, given her cracked ribs. Once he had her situated he set about setting her shoulder. He put her upper arm in a resting state, lying against the ground. Having not seen any signs from her that she wanted him to stop he continued on; bending the elbow perpendicular to her upper arm, rotating the arm inwards. Slowly he rotated the entire arm and shoulder outward, keeping the upper arm as still as possible. He began to pull the shoulder away from her body, making sure to keep her elbow bent perpendicular to her body. He continued to move the arm back and forth until he felt it slip back into place.

The whole time he worked she had kept back her screams of anguish. She never thought letting him do this would hurt so much, but it was too late to stop him now. He had a focused look on his face as he slowly moved her arm back and forth. When she felt the thing pop back into place she could no longer keep her pain back. A blood curdling scream ripped from her throat before her world once again turned black.

* * *

_OK I did research on the shoulder thing and let me just say I never want to experience one, much less have to put it back into place for someone. *shudders*_

_Sany  
_


End file.
